Thus Speaks Mr. Nobody: Brecht's Stories of Mr. Keuner through the Lensof Classical Chinese Dialectics

Abstract: This essay presents a refreshing reading of Bertolt Brecht's Stories of Mr. Keuner through the lens of classical Chinese dialectics. Through careful analysis, I uncover not only interesting resonances between Brecht's stories and classical Chinese philosophy but also intriguing dialectic tensions between individual and clusters of stories in the collection, and between Brecht (the man, the artist, and his dramatic oeuvre) and Mr. Keuner (Mr. Nobody), his philosophical alter ego, as the titular character dialogues with his many interlocutors on momentous issues such as knowledge, power, justice, fatherland, and more.